AI healthcare innovator says 5G will help improve limited medical resources

5G technologies, with super-fast throughput, high reliability and low latency, will boost applications of artificial intelligence in China to mitigate the impact of limited medical resources, according to senior executives of Hangzhou Yitu Healthcare Technology Co Ltd, a Chinese startup pioneering AI healthcare innovation.

"5G networks can support highly precise and real-time transmission of massive data, to guarantee the accuracy and reliability of medical data medical professionals use in AI systems," said Fang Cong, vice-president of the company.

5G will significantly remove obstacles for hospitals to interconnect and thus, will enhance their cooperation to promote advanced diagnosis and treatment experiences from top hospitals to less privileged ones, through AI applications, she said.

Such application is especially helpful to enhance medical service in China's rural areas, according to Shi Lei, also a vice-president at the company.

It is often difficult for medical facilities in rural areas to install and use AI applications due to financial and technician limitations, but application of 5G will enable them to connect with higher-level hospitals to make use of AI applications there, he said.

China has 2,000 three-level hospitals (the highest level in China's three-level hospital rating system), but many more hospitals and medical facilities are in rural and remote areas, and 5G applications can help with medical staff training, he added.

The company will invest 100 million yuan in the next five years to fund its so-called anti-cancer map program, which uses AI applications to help hospitals scan and detect cancer, and have benefitted more than 20,000 patients in provinces, including Guangdong, Fujian, Henan, Zhejiang, Hubei and Liaoning.

The company also launched an AI-based clinical research system for multiple disease groups, which has enhanced analysis ability compared with AI systems for a single disease.

Zhang Zhenfeng, deputy director with the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, also said 5G technologies, super-fast in data transmission, will greatly enhance medical image transmission to increase the interconnection of medical facilities.